Musician turns to community to fund debut album

Sunday

Jul 14, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Chad Maybin finally caught a break at a rescheduled 4th of July Celebration held at Rosco's Six Oaks in Tuxedo on July 6. The rain that again threatened to cancel the festivities broke for about 45 minutes.

By Jacob BibaTimes-News Correspondent

Chad Maybin finally caught a break at a rescheduled 4th of July Celebration held at Rosco's Six Oaks in Tuxedo on July 6. The rain that again threatened to cancel the festivities broke for about 45 minutes. Maybin then took the stage and performed a few of the songs that will appear on his debut album “Road, Rails and Rubber,” the release of which he is looking to the community to help fund.Other than Sunday services at Mountain Valley Baptist Church, where Maybin has been a lifelong member and performs regularly, the event at Rosco's was the first time in 10 years he has performed for the community.A ninth-generation Henderson County native, Maybin got his start in music at the age of 4 at the urging of his mother and father, JoEllen and Bobby Maybin. He joined the family's southern gospel troupe, The Maybin's, and spent the weekends of his youth traveling and performing all over Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina.“I did that until I went in the Navy,” Maybin said. In 1995, he left the service, moved to Houston and began singing with a group called The Hoxworth's. The band broke up within the year and Maybin returned to Henderson County, where he joined The McKeithen's, a gospel group out of Nashville. That lasted about a year. “From there I started writing and I just broke out on my own and went more toward the country route,” Maybin said. “I've been a solo singer-songwriter ever since.”After another venture in Texas and a stint in Nashville from 2007 to 2009, where Maybin said he “knocked on every door, and bugged the heck out of everybody I could,” the 42-year-old is back in Henderson County. For his day job, Maybin is a truck driver with Fill-A-Pool, where he has been employed on and off for 12 years. But when he's not driving and filling pools, he's jotting down future lyrics in notebooks that are now full of songs. Maybin, with the help of his wife, Tammy, is trying to transform this notebook into a full-length album and is looking for help from the community through the popular crowd-sourcing platform, Kickstarter. “To do an independent recording, it costs somewhere around 25 grand, and that's if you've got friends,” Maybin said. “I've spent thousands of dollars. And I do mean literally thousands and thousands of dollars.” Those who visit The Chad Maybin Band Kickstarter page will see that he's seeking help raising the final $5,700 it will take to make his debut album a reality. Kickstarter, one of the most popular tools musicians, artists and others use to raise money, allows artists like Maybin to seek funding and offer those who pledge something in return. Those who pledge $25 will receive Maybin's CD before the official release date and an invite to his release party, among other incentives. If Maybin doesn't meet his fundraising goal before 9 p.m. July 19, donors' pledges won't be collected. As for the future of the album, “We'll keep on trying, keep on saving, keep on doing what we go to do,” Maybin said.